Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov is due in town today to attend the screening of In The Holy Fire Of Revolution, Masha Novikova’s film about the daily harassment of opposition political leaders in Putin’s Russia.

Kasparov was a major international chess champion who won every possible award in the game over a career that spanned nearly 20 years. However, his post-chess campaign for human rights has made him one of Russia's most controversial figures. He joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1984, and in 1987 was elected to the Central Committee of Komsomol. But in 1990 he left the party, and in May took part in the creation of the Democratic Party of Russia. In June 1993, he was involved in the creation of the "Choice of Russia" bloc of parties, and in 1996 he took part in the election campaign of Boris Yeltsin. In 2001 he voiced his support for the independent Russian television channel NTV.

After his retirement from chess in 2005, Kasparov turned to politics and created the United Civil Front, a social movement whose main goal is to "work to preserve electoral democracy in Russia."He has vowed to "restore democracy" to Russia by toppling the elected Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, of whom he is an outspoken critic. Kasparov was instrumental in setting up The Other Russia, a coalition which oppose Putin's government.

Kasparov helped organize the Saint Petersburg Dissenters' March on March 3, 2007 and The March of the Dissenters on March 24, 2007, both involving several thousand people rallying against Putin and Saint Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko's policies. In September 2007, he entered the Russian Presidential race, vowing to fight for a "democratic and just Russia". In November, 2007, he and other protesters were detained by police at an Other Russia rally in Moscow. After being imprisoned and fined repeatedly, Kasparov withdrew from the presidential race but has remained an outspoken critic of Russia's corrupt and inflexible political system.


Sandy Mandelberger, IDFA Dailies Editor
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